Everyone who grows flowers in his garden plot, at least once faced with the question of how to store gladiolus bulbs. They cannot be left in the ground, because they will not withstand the first frosts, so they are dug up in the fall. But not everyone knows what to do with the bulbs of these flowers. Taking care of them is troublesome, but if the gardener has a desire to please himself with an abundance of unusual, bright flowers next season, then you will have to try a little.
Processing bulbs before storage
So, before deciding how to store gladiolus bulbs, you must first properly prepare them for the coming winter. First you need to dig them out of the ground as carefully as possible, without damaging the integrity. Perhaps the most important factor in determining when to dig bulbs is the timing of cutting.colors. Also, great importance is given to the peculiarities of the climate of the region. Gladiolus bulbs are taken out of the ground no earlier than a month after cutting the flowers, so you should not delay cutting the stems. After all the bulbs are dug out, it is necessary to proceed with their primary processing. It includes two stages: washing and drying. One of the secrets of how to store gladiolus bulbs lies in the correctness of these procedures. This is important, since it is the processing that does not allow rot to appear. Washing consists in the fact that the bulbs are lowered into a manganese solution for half an hour. Then they are taken out and carefully placed on the fabric, it is important that it absorbs water well. You can also use gauze. The bulbs must dry completely. If even one of them rots, there is a risk that all will be lost.
Sorting bulbs
After all the planting material dries well, it is necessary to sort it. But it can be immediately noted that this procedure does not affect how to store gladioli bulbs. It is needed rather so that the gardener himself is well oriented in the spring and knows what and with what to plant. The easiest thing to do is to simply separate the babies from the adult bulbs. You can also put the largest onions in a separate group.
Storage of bulbs
After our seed is washed, dried and disassembled, you can go directly to the question of how and where to storebulbs of gladiolus in the winter at home? The easiest way is to put them in a cardboard box with holes in the lid. These holes can also be made from the sides. They are needed for ventilation. If this method was chosen, then it is better to pre-wrap the bulbs in a newspaper. In addition to cardboard, wooden boxes and drawers are also well suited. The optimum storage temperature is 5 degrees. Therefore, it is best to place a box with bulbs in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator or put it in the cellar. Once a month they are taken out, checked so that rot does not appear, if the bulbs are wet, they are dried a little. It remains only to find out how to properly store small-sized gladiolus bulbs, that is, “kids”. It is not recommended to put them in a box or in a vegetable net, especially in plastic bags. Paper bags will come to the aid of gardeners. They can be made from newspaper or paper for printing. Like adult formed bulbs, "babies" also need to be aired periodically.
